


Summer's Over

by Lyssavirus



Category: Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Angst, Minor Character Death, One-Shot, The main character doesn't die tho I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 18:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7326373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyssavirus/pseuds/Lyssavirus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All good things must come to an end</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer's Over

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling super depressed and like crap in-between writing chapters of Symbiosis so I took a brief break to write this one-shot about one of my newer OCs so here's Danny before becoming a Hunter. I'm still working on Symbiosis, just wanted to toy with the new kid some. Not sure how interesting this is

The smell of hay was familiar and thick in the air and the weight of the heaped pile on top of them was sort of comforting. A few rays of the setting sunlight snuck through the boards and caught the aimlessly floating motes, almost seeming to catch them on flame. They’d spent more nights than they could count hiding out like this over the past months, usually snug and curled up with a book or something. It felt secure and secret. This right here was just about their favorite spot in the world. That was all that they wanted to focus on; their warm, dark nook and the dusty little form of the barn cat nestled under them. They tried to tell themself that the stinging in their eyes and the snot running down their face were just because of all the hay dust.

Uncle Jon was dead. An entire day had already passed since he’d died. And Danny had- they’d-... A fresh wave of ache sank into Danny’s chest and they shrunk in tighter around Jessie. Oh god. He still had to be laying on the kitchen floor, next to the fire poker that they’d dropped. It made their stomach turn that it hadn’t even been a clean death, like the man himself had given to the poor handful of cows once the order to put them down had come in.

Their black eye still ached dully where their uncle, their endlessly patient uncle with the greying hair and the developing laugh lines, had punched them directly in it. Danny didn’t kid themself. There was no question that it had been in an attempt to _kill them_. Given a few more seconds, he would have inevitably bitten them which he’d certainly been trying to do, and then… they didn’t know what would have happened. It made them feel sick to think about. Had that even actually been Uncle Jon in there?

Ever since then, they’d been hiding out in here, trying to figure out what to do next. So far, that had been… nothing. They felt like they’d like nothing more than to spend the rest of eternity in here, not moving, nestled up with the small comfort of Jessie, Splinter, and Big Boy. Sure, they’d eventually starve to death or something, but maybe if they could wait long enough this would all just go away. They’d never been that dark of a thinker before, but there it was while they were stuck in here with nothing but Aunt Cat’s quilt, the cats, and their thoughts.

As the light faded out of the barn, they couldn’t help but distinctly remember that at first, they’d been _glad_ that there’d been some kind of “flu” going around and travel restrictions had been put in place. A little nervous, sure, but look at that. It had bought them maybe weeks worth more time before they’d be sent off back home! And they’d never, ever, wanted to leave. They’d planned to soak up absolutely every last second that they got before this blew over jumping into the cold river, laying out on their belly in the field with the sheep, exploring every nook and cranny of the area surrounding the farm.

Their parents had been wrong about sending them here. Danny wasn’t a stupid kid by any means. Shipping them off here had been their attempt at teaching them some kind of lesson, and Danny had been hesitant at first. The last time they’d seen these people had been when they were maybe six years old at Christmas time, so whatever they might actually been like had been a mystery to them. Besides that, their parents’ talk about a summer of some farm work being great for helping “troubled kids” had set off a few alarm bells by itself. They’d seemed convinced that some good ol’ fashioned American labor would be just the trick for straightening out their wayward child, with the emphasis on “straightening”. But, heck. Eventually they hadn’t been given much choice in the matter.

Fortunately, it seemed that their parents hadn’t known the relatives all that well themselves. Of all the things that Danny had expected to be welcomed with, “open arms” had been something of a surprise.

And now Uncle Jon was dead, and Aunt Cat was nowhere to be found.

They didn’t know how long it would take those people to find them in here. Those… sick people. It had only seemed totally real once they’d seen them for themself, first with the old man in town who ran the secondhand shop and then more and more. There hadn’t been anything left to the man but anger, and that had been the same way that Uncle Jon had died. Would the same thing have happened to them if he’d managed to get his teeth in like he’d been so set on doing?

Maybe it was shock, or maybe they just didn’t want to have to deal with this right now, but eventually Danny started drifting. They stroked Jessie’s fur and let out a soft whimper despite there being no one to hear it. The fact that they couldn’t stay in here forever was terrifying.

Eventually they started to daydream. About two months ago, when they’d gone into town with Aunt Cat on her morning errand run. Aunt Cat was fifty-six and a beanpole of a woman, her hands rough from years working outside and her nails constantly caked with dirt, grey hair usually tied up in a loose, careless bun. She constantly smelled faintly like her cigarettes, but also like her herb garden, so it wasn’t terrible. They’d passed the secondhand shop on the way to the post office, and there it had been in the window. Maybe the plaid dress had been a little tacky, but then again that was exactly Danny’s taste. “I bet you’d look good in that, Auntie Cat,” they remembered sheepishly saying after a few seconds of admiration. The woman had just shrugged her shoulders. They’d just about cried when they’d seen the box on the bed when they’d come up from that day’s work.

Well. They were definitely crying _now_. They hugged the same soft flannel dress around themself underneath their sweatshirt. They hadn’t been able to resist retrieving it, just for the comfort of at least having it. She… she had to have been dead by now too. What else could have happened? Otherwise she would have come back. She wouldn’t have left them alone like this.

“What are we going to do here, guys?” they got out in a pathetic, hoarse whisper, tugging in all three of the cats in against them. They repeated it softer a few times and, obviously, received no answer. Finally, mercifully, they started to fall asleep.

It was the low grumbling of Big Boy near their face that woke them up. Blearily he stirred and, strangely enough, it seemed that all three of the animals were on alert. Jessie and Splinter had backed off into corners, and Big Boy’s tail was puffed out like a bottle brush. Confused, they wondered what had gotten them so stirred-up. There didn’t seem to be anything in-

 **Smash**!

Danny had to actually bite into the sleeve of their hoodie to muffle the sudden scream that threatened to leave. It… it had to be one of the sick people! But how did they know that there was someone in here?! Could it smell them? Hear their breathing? Wide-eyed and gasping they piled more hay over themself, hoping, praying that maybe it would keep them hidden well enough.

“Please,” they silently mouthed to themself, squeezing their eyes shut as if that would somehow block the thing out, “Please please please-”

Something didn’t sound right. Between the thuds on the door, what sounded like solid kicks, they could hear what sounded like uneven wheezing and hacking. Pained but somehow aggressive at the same time. The people in town hadn’t been that way. Maybe these people were sicker than they’d thought.

But how could someone that sick be so _strong_? It was going to bust in the door at that rate! More tears flowed freely when they finally heard the sound of the lock clattering to the floor and the door knocking open. They flattened themself. Swore not to move a muscle not to even breathe oh god just please please let whatever this- this THING would not notice them and GO AWAY.

And for a minute, nothing happened. The tension was unbearable as they heard the labored breathing outside of the door and… and now they could smell something, too. It was nothing quite like that they’d ever smelled before. A sickly-sweet sort of scent, very faintly resembling tobacco smoke but clearly something else. It was… it was searching the place. Hours seemed to stretch by, but the creature didn’t come any closer.

It hadn’t found their hiding spot. Oh thank god-

Before they knew what had happened, something hard and rubbery impacted Danny’s body, wrapped around their chest and constricted, _hard_. Mind reeling, not knowing what this could even be, their mouth simply opened in shock, unable to move.

And then it yanked them out of their hay pile and down out of the loft, toward the floor below. Now, they couldn’t help but shriek, the instant before they hit the barn floor. They landed on their back and their head took a solid whack on the way down. Dark spots danced in front of their eyes as they stared up at the rafters above. And then, the terror hit.

“No! N-NO!”

Their voice actually cracked from the force of their scream as they thrashed, clawed blindly at the straw-covered floor with their fingers, did their best to resist. This thing was _reeling them in_! Their screams were abruptly cut off into a pained gasp as the appendage squeezed harder, forcing the wind out of them. Desperate for something, anything to defend themself with and in sheer panic, their fingers seized onto some kind of handle without even knowing what it was.

And then it was standing over them.

No.

This… it couldn’t be happening.

Danny looked up first at the infected’s bloodied flannel blouse, torn half-open, and as it dragged them in they saw more. Bulging tissue obscuring nearly the entire right side of the creature’s face. Fresh blood smeared over the rest. The _tongue_ that was choking the life out of them. Wild, unreasoning hate in its singular remaining eye.

That all-too familiar wispy half bun.

And then Aunt Cat dragged them up against her and raked blunt _claws_ across their chest.

It didn’t quite break through the fabric of their sweatshirt, but that was enough to give them an adrenaline-driven burst of renewed energy. Sheer panic overtook everything else as they shoved, screamed, tried anything to get away. The entire time they were shrieking.

“AUNTIE CAT! PLEASE! IT’S ME! IT’S DANNY!”

There was no Aunt Cat that was listening. All the pleading seemed to do was enrage the woman because her wheezing only grew more aggravated and the appendage around them tightened nearly enough to break something. Not that they could stop. By now their voice was hoarse and near-unintelligible with sobs.

“PLEASE! AUNTIE CAT NO! PLEASE! STOP, IT’S ME! IT’S M-”

Stars exploded in their vision as they both felt and sickeningly heard one of their own ribs giving way. For just a second they lapsed into unconsciousness. They… they couldn’t get any air. They had to BREATHE! They were going to die, they were about to…

As the sense left them, faintly they realized that their hand was still tensely clenched around the handle that they’d latched onto.

_I. I can’t do that, I can’t, I can’t._

Aunt Cat leaned in as close as possible over them. Snarled in their face, dripping hot, fresh spittle and blood down onto their cheek. And then, her hands closed around Danny’s throat.

Danny raised the hatchet.


End file.
